Triumph Inc. Head Start program for early childhood development opens new location at Taunton's Bristol Commons

Sunday

May 18, 2014 at 7:41 PMMay 18, 2014 at 7:50 PM

Marc Larocque Enterprise Staff Writer @Enterprise_Marc

TAUNTON — In a community center right near the entrance of the new Bristol Commons, built last year in place of the former Dewert Avenue housing project, a new child care center is providing Head Start services just steps away from homes at the new mixed-income development.

“This is the ultimate setup for Head Start,” said Karen M. Ennis, executive director of Triumph Inc., which is running the new early childhood education program. “Head Start’s goal is engaging families. It’s the ultimate collaboration to work with families right where they live.”

The new program at the Bristol Commons site was dedicated in a ceremony on Sunday morning and it was named “Fay’s Place” in honor of a former Head Start volunteer who died one year ago. It will provide care for 16 preschoolers and seven toddlers of families who live at the Bristol Commons site, Ennis said, but the program is still open for enrollment to residents who meet income eligibility guidelines. The program is a collaboration between Triumph Inc., the Taunton Housing Authority and Trinity Financial, which redeveloped and now manages the mixed-income housing site.

Triumph Inc. also provides parental education workshops, starting with a prenatal program called “Baby Love,” in addition to parent volunteer opportunities, Ennis said.

“With Head Start, we work with at-risk families to support them with education opportunities,” said Ennis, who also explained that the program has a parent-based decision-making called the policy counsel. “When parents drop them off in the morning, there is an opportunity for them to stay. Teachers model in the right way to do things. They live here and can take advantage of that.”

The family of Fay Pacheco Voci attended the dedication ceremony, where a plaque was unveiled in her honor. Pacheco was 43 when she died in her Raynham home on last May 30, surrounded by family and friends, after a battle with cancer.

Richard R. Voci Jr., who spoke during the dedication, said it was an honor that the new center is being named after his wife. Fay Pacheco Voci was remembered for her devoted work at Triumph Inc.'s Head Start Program next to Taunton High School for more than 15 years, first starting as a parent volunteer when her son, Josh, was preschool student there, while she was attending college at the same time. Pacheco Voci eventually became a teacher and a manager for Triumph Inc. Head Start.

“Whether it was preparing for the classroom the next day, gathering information for a grant, giving advice to a colleague on the phone, or getting ready for that dreaded Federal review, she was committed to making Triumph Head Start the best early child educational program that she can provide to the children,” said Richard Voci, whose wife went by the nickname Nicky. “I was always so proud of my Nicky in all her achievements at her work. And I am still today.”

Triumph Inc. Head Start now serves a total of 220 preschool students and 68 toddlers from Taunton and Raynham, Ennis said. With its Riverway site next to Taunton High School, the Quinn Center in the Myles Standish Industrial Park and the new Bristol Commons site, the organization employs 96 people and, throughout any school year, has as many as 200 parent volunteers.

The “Fay’s Place” program has two classrooms in the building, including one with cribs for toddlers and a larger room filled with toys, a whiteboard and little tables.

“I love how they have all the books and furniture,” said Marley Fletcher, who is the chairperson for the organization’s policy council. “It’s beautiful and will be an awesome learning experience for them.”

Bristol Commons, and another downtown site called Lenox Green, were constructed last year with the help of a $22 million federal HOPE VI grant. Bristol Commons features 88 new energy-efficient townhouse-style units, a playground and the community center. There are 50 children under the age of 5 who live there, Ennis said.